Source: ElevenMyanmar.comMyanmar will establish a Save the Elephant Foundation Myanmar in Bago Region and has plans to build a hospital to protect the elephants, according a foundation report. “We are now submitting a proposal to the Ministry of Home Affairs and Bago Regional Chief Minister to establish the Save the Elephant Foundation Myanmar. The foundation aims to combat the illegal killing of elephants living in the jungle and to save the elephants’ lives as well as to launch technical training courses with the government and private organizations,” said Khin Maung Win, chairperson of Save the Elephant Foundation Myanmar. The foundation was established in Myanmar for the first time thanks to assistance from the Save the Elephant Foundation based in Thailand. Although the wild elephants in Bago region are owned by the government and most privately owned elephants are subject to protection laws, mainly the foundation aims to carry out preventive measures against illegal killing of the elephants across the country. “We are going to build a hospital for the elephants after receiving permission from the relevant departments. Upon completion of the hospital, we will freely provide food and shelter, as well as health care services, to injured and older elephants,” the foundation’s chairperson added. In Bago Region, ivory cutting and illegal killing of elephants owned by the government, as well as the hunting of wild and privately owned elephants, has left a trail of rotten carcasses. Hunters looking for elephants are now frequenting Bago mountain ranges and forest, according to veterinary surgeon Dr. Lay Win, and executive of the Save the Elephant Foundation.